The Earth is shaking, crying, wailing, and blowing. This summer will bring more hurt and destruction than this globe has seen in eons. No place will be untouched. People need to awaken and know what is truly important. By the end of the year, many, many people will find that their concepts of life, living, what is necessary, what is important, etc. will have changed. And when this happens, those with a new perspective will see clearly the illusion of what the media and those in power have told us is paramount, necessary, good. Plastic surgery. Material possessions. Big houses. The “Right” people. Hollywood glamor. Gossip magazines. Stuff. The Earth will have led us to evaluate what makes life worthwhile. This week, this summer, and the slide into next year will hold up a mirror to us all. What we see in it will be the truth. We can choose to accept or turn away. There is no blame. We do the best we can. Continue reading →

New study links obesity to workplace

According to new study – today’s workplace is one of the causes of obesity in America. This was determined by researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA.

To find this, the information from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics were analyzed from the 1960s to 2008. From this information it was determined that in today’s jobs men burn approximately 142 less calories a day than they did in the past, while women burn 124 less, EpostMediareports.

Skin cells ‘turned into neurons’ by US scientists

An image of neurons in the brain. The researchers claim such cells can be made from skin cells

A Californian team say they have managed to convert human skin cells directly into functioning brain cells.

The scientists manipulated the process by which DNA is transcribed within foetal skin cells to create cells which behaved like neurons.

The technique had previously been demonstrated in mice, says the report in Nature.

It could be used for neurological research, and might conceivably be used to create brain cells for transplant.

Reprogrammed skin

The scientists used genetically modified viruses to introduce four different “transcription factors” into foetal skin cells. These transcription factors play a role in the “reading” of DNA and the encoding of proteins within the cell.

They found the introduction of these four transcription factors had the effect of switching a small portion of the skin cells into cells which functioned like neurons.

Unlike other approaches, the process did not involve the reprogramming of the skin cells into stem cells, but rather the direct transformation of skin cells into neurons.